Representatives of the Swedish Jewish community last week took part in a memorial ceremony marking the anniversary of the “Night of the Gypsies”, or Zigeunernacht. Between August 2 and 3, 1944, around 3,000 Roma were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz.

The memorial ceremony took place on Raoul Wallenberg square in Stockholm. It was the first time that the Jewish Community had been asked to participate in an official capacity.

Lena Posner-Körösi, president of the Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden, spoke at the ceremony alongside Mona Sahlin, the former leader of the Social Democrat party, and Domino Kai, director of Sweden’s International Roma Film Festival.

“It felt natural for me to accept the invitation,” said Ms Posner-Körösi.

“The 3,000 Roma who were sent to Auschwitz suffered the same fate as the Jews. The Roma are a national minority in Sweden, just like the Jews, and it is important that minorities support each other.”
At the 2011 Holocaust Memorial Day, Roma community representatives spoke and performed traditional music in Stockholm’s Great Synagogue.